Iam on the Bachelor
by PeetaBakesCakes
Summary: Freddie Benson is 28 years old and ready to find love. So what better place than the reality show the bachelor? But what happens when one of the girls is a very familiar face? It's Romance obviously, and some drama. And I can't write without humor R&R
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my first story on but I've wrote lots of little short stories. This idea just sorta popped in my head one day (while I was watching the Bachlelorette go figure...). So anyways hopefully this story will get good feedback and turn into a multi-chap! So you know the drill, Read, Review, Follow. Gracias mi amigos!**

**DISCLAIMER:I am obviously not Dan Schneider or else I wouldn't be on FF, I would be working on the brilliance that is the new season of ICarly.**

I nervously straiten my tie as Chris Harrison talks with the producer. This is it. I'm at the infamous mansion. I'm about to meet 25 beautiful women. One of them will hopefully be the love of my life.

Man am I nervous.

I haven't had much luck in love in my life. My first girlfriend, Valerie, was just using me for web popularity. Carly, the girl I swore I was in love with, only dated me because I saved her life, not because she genuinly loved me. My first kiss was just "to get it out of the way" for gosh sake.

I sigh. I can never seem to escape the memories of my first kiss. At the time just "getting it out of the way" seemed like a fantastic idea. But after a couple days I began to regret it. To this day I'm not sure if the kiss made me love her, or just made me notice the feelings that had been piling up since the day I met her. Either way, I began to wish that the kiss had been real.

We did eventually end up together. Dated a while in high school. Some people would say we were "high school sweethearts". I wouldn't exactly call her a sweetheart though. She was rude. She was sarcastic. She was vicious. She was mine.

She was mine, all mine. Until graduation. I made my valedictorian speech. We went to the park where my mom had rented a shelter for a graduation party. We laughed, we cried, we reminisced about our lives. Us and our best friends Carly and Gibby and Spencer. Afterwards we went back to Carly's apartment. We did ICarly. Our very last ICarly. When it was over she took my hand and led me to the fire escape. Our fire escape. She looked me in the eyes. I remember the tear tracks on her face, it had been a hard day. She ended it. Something about how long distance relationships don't work. How high school lovers don't last. It was the only time I've ever seen Sam absolutely serious.

Sam. Samantha Joy Puckett. My only real girlfriend. The reason why I'm here.

I mean it's been 10 years. It's time I move on because, let's face it, I'm not getting any younger. I'm 28 years old. I have a successful job as a computer software developer at Pear Inc. I'm ready to find love. I'm ready to forget Sam.

Ok maybe not forget. Just...move on. Face the fact that she's not coming back so we obviously weren't meant to be.

"Well Freddie, are you ready to meet the women?" Chris's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Absolutly!" I grin enthusiastically. Chris shakes me hand and says, "Here comes limo number 1" before walking away.

I see the limo pulling up and am immediately seized with terror. What do I say to these girls? What if they're crazy ICarly fan girls? 'Dont go getting a big head Benson' I scold myself, 'ICarlys been over for a decade. There are no more crazy fan girls throwing themselves at you. Beside's the bachelors identity has been hushed up. None of these women know that Freddie Benson is the bachelor. Most of them probably won't even know you are.'

I pull out of my thoughts just in time to see the limo door opening and a gorgeous woman step out. Her dark red hair is curled and tossed over her bare shoulder. Her strapless green dress reaches her knees and makes her legs look miles long. As she walks up to me I see that her eyes are a shade of green that would make an emerald jealous.

"Hi I'm Alyssa." She holds out her hand for me to shake. I introduce myself and before I know it Alyssa's gone and another girl is stepping out of the limo. This one is tall and tan, with long straight dark hair and eyes the color of milk chocolate. She introduces herself as Sasha. Before long I've met Olivia, Paris, and Gabrielle and Chris is back telling me that limo 2 is about to arrive.

Limo 2 flashes by. Then limo 3. All the women are starting to blend together. What's the name of this petite brunette that's telling me a cheesy joke? Meagan? Molly? I can't remember. She's the 15th woman I've met tonight. And I've never been the best with names. But soon she disappears into the mansion and limo 4 is coming.

The next 5 women pass in a blur and I'm feeling overwhelmed by the time Chris comes and tells me that the 5th and final limo is arriving.

The first girl that steps out is of average height and has unnaturally blonde hair. She introduces herself as Shanna and something about her sweet smile reminds me of Carly.

Thinking about Carly's smile brings back memories. I haven't talked to her in years. I haven't talked to any of my old friends lately. I still see Spencer occasionally because he still lives across the hall from my moms apartment. Carly and I stayed friends through college but then lost touch. I haven't seen or heard from Sam since that night on the fire escape.

Im pulled out of my thoughts as Shanna walks away and yet another girl steps out of the limo. I smile at her and began to introduce myself, but suddenly she's hugging me and screaming in my ear.

"Omigod! ANOTHER ICarly? This is the best night of my life!" I carefully pry her off of me.

"Um, so yeah I'm Freddie," I begin hesitantly.

"What? I thought you were Gibby!" she says. I look at her in confusion and open my mouth to talk but she hits my shoulder and doubles over laughing.

"Kidding, kidding!" she laughs, "I know who you are!"

"Er... Well um, you should go on in..." I say awkwardly. I really hate crazy fan girls.

"Ok! I'm Willow by the way. I'll see you inside!"

I give a sigh of relief as she walks away. She's definitely not getting a rose. But what did she mean by another ICarly?

The next two girls melt away my annoyance from Willow and I'm feeling really confident as I prepare to meet the final woman.

The limo door opens and for the 25th time that night I see a foot step out. I'm immediately confused because this foot isn't wearing heels or even stilettos like the other 24 pairs of feet were. This foot is wearing a dirty, worn looking, purple converse. The shoes twin lands next to it and I move my gaze up to see the gutsy girl wearing this odd choice of footware. She's wearing a silver dress that hugs her body perfectly and falls to just above her knees. There's a stain near the top of the dress though. It looks like...barbaque sauce? I finally look at the girls face. Her blonde curls are piled on top of her head. Her exquisite blue eyes are wide and disbelieving and as I stare into them my mind is flooded with memories both good and bad. Memories of pure happiness. Memories of passion. Memories of both physical and emotional pain.

Crap.


	2. Chapter 2

**OMG ok so i have had this story on for less than 2 hours and I've already received so many emails telling me people have added it to their alerts and favorites! You guys rock! Oh, and I'm really sorry if theres any typos or anything like that because I do pretty much all my writing on my I-pod. So this is my second update in one night! But that's mostly due to the fact that I had already had chapter 1 written and was just too lazy to upload it. Receiving all those emails really motivated me to get chapter 2 up quickly! *hint hint* reviews really do speed up the writing process(; This chapter is a lot shorter than the last but its mostly a filler. Also, I have never been to the Bachelor set so I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. This is purely my imagination as to what goes down when the cameras aren't rolling. So yeah, same as last time chapter Read, Review, Follow! Au Revoir! **

**DISCLAIMER: I own no part of the Icarly franchise. I also do not own the Bachelor/Bachelorette. Anything that you recognize, is not mine.**

Crap. Crap. Crap. I'm at a loss for words as she continues to stare at me, frozen with one hand still on the limo door.

What is she doing here? Never in a million years have I ever pictured Samantha Puckett coming on a show like this. 25 squealing, giggling girls drinking alcohol and competing for one mans attention? Not the kind of place I would ever imagine her to be. But then again, 10 years ago I wouldn't have imagined myself here either.

I need to say something. This silence has been dragging on way to long. Surely the crew must be noticing. I try to recall if the show has a rule about the bachelor knowing one of the women. I can't remember.

"Um...uh hello" I say awkwardly.

"I'm going inside, it's er...cold out here." She speed walks right past me and into the mansion. I stare after her lost in thought.

I jump as Chris Harrison puts his hand on my shoulder; I hadnt heard him walk over.

"So, Freddie, you've met all the women now. How are you feeling?"

"Well, Chris," I begin trying to figure out exactly how I feel right now. He must notice I'm fumbling because he says, "Excited? Nervous? Overwhelmed?"

Overwhelmed. That's an understatement.

"Yes. Definitely overwhelmed!" I say.

"Well hopefully you can push that feeling aside because it's time to head inside, as soon as we return! Stay with us."

"Annnd cut!" the producer, Greg, calls. Two hairstylists run over to me with a can of hairspray. They tousle my hair and spritz it to make it hold. One of them straightens my collar before they both hurry away. I'm not sure how I feel about this. The hairstylists, the producers saying cut and action. It all feels too scripted. I've been told that only tonight is staged like this. I sure hope so.

"Lets move inside everyone," Greg directs. We all follow him inside the mansion.

"All right everybody let's move his along. Chris, you know the drill," Chris nods and Greg turns is attention towards me, "Ok Freddie. When you hear Chris say your name, you walk in the sitting room. Each of the girls are in there. You have 3 hours until the rose ceremony. Try and talk to each of them. As I'm sure you know, there is a first impression rose. Give this to whichever girl gives you the best first impression. Got it?" I nod trying to clear my head. I still am in shock at seeing Sam again.

Greg gives the cue to start filming and Chris begins speaking to the camera with such an ease, that its obvious he's been doing this for years.

"Welcome back everybody. Now bachelor, Freddie Benson, has just met 25 beautiful women. Now it's time for the first cocktail party." Chris finishes his lines and starts down the hallway that leads to the sitting room. I take my position at the mouth of the doorway and wait for my cue.

"Welcome ladies!" I can hear Chris addressing the girls, "I hope you're all having a wonderful time! Now who's ready to talk to Freddie?" this is answered by much appaulase and I'm forcing myself to take deep breaths when I begin walking down he hall.

As soon as I'm in the line of sight of the women here's an eruption of cheers. I can't help but grin as I look around at all the smiling faces.

That is until I catch sight of one girl who's sitting in the back by herself, a drink in her hand, purple converse propped up in front of her, and deliberately looking anywhere but at me. It's going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, it's been a week since I've updated but I've been busy with school and I had a 5k this morning to support down syndrome. I've been working on this chapter every chance I've gotten and it's _really _long...like 5 pages on microsoft office. But anyway there's obviously a ton of OC's in it, so if you get confused, leave a review telling me and I will upload a chapter that's just a description of each of the OC's for you to refer to. Also, I would like to add that in the previous chapter, I named the producer Greg because I really don't know who the producer really is. I should probably look it up. So if the name changes, thats why. Oh and I'm sorry if Freddie seems OOC in this chapter (lets blame it on nerves?) and if the chapter feels too rushed (I had to describe 24 characters and I didn't want this chapter to be 20 pages long). But enough of my rambling, on with the story! Read & Review please! I won't not update because of lack of reviews, but knowing theres a lot of people waiting for the next chapter will make it be written faster! And again, I'm rambling...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ICarly nor The Bachelor. Only the many OC's in this chapter. Anything you recognize, is not mine.**

Chris nods at me and walks away. For the next 3 hours I'm supposed to get to know each of these women. Well, 24 of them anyway.

I put on my best smile and say, "Welcome ladies! Thank you all so much for coming here. I really can't describe what this means to me. So now, who's ready to have a great night?" this is answered by cheers and raising of glasses. Except for Sam. She's still ignoring me. Suddenly I'm filled with anger towards her. I came here to find love. This is a serious thing for me. And she's ruining it. It's not fair for the other girls either. They came here trying to find love with me. And I can't even focus on them because I'm so surprised at seeing her again after 10 years.

'Well,' I think to myself, 'you can't let her ruin this. Spend the night meeting all these new women and send her home. Problem solved.'

Soon I find myself on a bench outside next to the pool, talking to Jenna, a pretty blonde girl from Arizona.

"So Arizona, I've never been there. What's it like?" I ask.

"Hot." she laughs and I join in, "but seriously, I love it. I've lived there my whole life. I can't imagine living anywhere else."

"It sounds very different from Seattle," I remark.

"Yeah, doesn't it rain all the time in Seattle?"

"Not all the time. Just, you know, most of the time." I grin. She laughs.

"I'm sorry, but can I cut in?" a petite girl with auburn hair asks. I'm fairly sure her name is Taylor.

Jenna smiles awkwardly at her and says "Um sure. See you later Freddie."

Soon Taylor and I engrossed in a conversation about the pros and cons of the newest pearphone. A pretty girl who gets technology? I like her already.

"So how do you know so much about techy stuff? No pretty girls at my high school were into that." I say.

"Thanks I guess," She giggles, "but nah I was never really one of the 'pretty' girls in high school. More like Mega Super Nerd. You tend to take an interest in computers when you spend your lunches alone in the library."

"Oh wow. Well, you're definitely not a nerd anymore. You're gorgeous."

This makes her blush.

"Thanks. I got lucky because in college my roommate was insanely popular. I got invited to lots of parties thanks to her." She takes a sip of her cocktail and looks around the patio. After a few minutes pass in silence she looks at me again, expecting me to speak, but I'm still pondering what she said about becoming popular thanks to her friend. Had I been destined to become the lonely loser that spent their lunch alone? Would I have, if not been for Carly's incredible friendship, and eventually Sam's?

I'm so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice that another girl has approached us and Is trying to get my attention.

"Urmmm….Hello? Freddie…?" She says obnoxiously waving her hand in my face. I look up at her and then glace at Taylor, who's staring at this new arrival in disgust. Taylor looks at me, mouths "See ya", and walks away.

"Hey, why don't you have a seat?" I stand up until she is comfortably seated. She props her feet up onto my former place, so I am forced to awkwardly perch on the hard arm of the bench.

"I thought I'd come save you. That girl looks like a nightmare." She says in an annoying drawl while examining her pink manicured nails.

"Actually she was quite nice," I'm beginning to not like this woman, "And you are?"

She pushes a lock of black hair behind her ear and then extends her hand. I shake it.

"I'm Lucille, but you can call me Lucy."

We fall into an awkward silence, until Lucy starts laughing.

"Look at that girl over there!" She laughs pointing towards Sam, who is sitting on the couch eating bacon. Where she found that, I don't want to know. Lucy's still laughing her head off, "Honestly! She's eating _bacon_! And look at her dress! It's all stained! And does she really expect a rose with those shoes?"

"I'm going to go get a drink," I lie. I really just need to get away from this girl. I decide to walk back inside and strike up a conversation with a politer person.

I spot a girl wearing a pink dress sitting by herself on the sofa. I walk over and say hello. She looks at me with wide brown eyes and introduces herself as Logan.

"Logan, that's an unusual name for a girl." I say without thinking. I inwardly curse myself as I feel red color my face. She glances at me to see if I'm joking or not. She must see my discomfort because her annoyed expression turns into a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, well, my parents were expecting a boy. I used to hate my name, but now I actually like it. It's different. It suits me." she shrugs.

"Yeah I think I know what you mean. My name is Fredward. I used to hate it, but I've been told it suits me." Actually Sam was the one who told me it suits me. She said that 'Fredward' was perfectly nubish enough for me.

"Freddddddieeee!" I look up from Logan just in time to see Willow running towards me, earning her some strange looks from the other women.

"Er... hi there Willow," I have just enough time to say before she engulfs me in another bear hug. I gently push her a respectable distance away, and turn to give Logan an apologetic look, but she's already walked away.

"Omigod you have to tell me everything about Icarly! Why's Sam here? Are you still friends with everybody?" Willows eyes look like they are about to pop put of her head. Something about their shade reminds me of a mud puddle after a particularly bad rainstorm. Her dirty blonde hair is curly and falls to her waist. Her green and brown floor-length dress is completed with a braided faux leaner headband.

"Um I don't know why Sam's here. No, I haven't talked to any of my old friends in years. And what do you want to know about Icarly?" I say all of this in a monotone voice. I really don't want to talk about Icarly right now. Actually, I don't want to talk to Willow period. She's could give magic Malika a run for her money in annoyingness.

"Where was your studio? Is it still there? Why'd you guys quit the show? Does Gibby still run around shirtless? Is Spencer still an artist? Do you still like coconut crème pie? Did you ever get that baby to laugh? Are you still techy? Will you ever start making new webisodes again?" She says all of this in one breath.

"Um… I'm sorry I didn't catch all that. Can you repeat it? Slower this time maybe?"

"I'm sorry I'm just _so _incredibly excited to meet you! My cousin, Nora, told me all about how she got to meet you guys! I've always been jealous of her!"

She's Nora's cousin. It all makes sense now. I frantically look around the room and lock eyes with Alyssa, the first girl I'd met tonight. I mouth 'Help' to her desperately hoping she understands what I'm saying. Fortunately she does, and she walks over.

"Excuse me, but may I interrupt?" She asks Willow sweetly. Willow stops her rambling and looks at her.

"I-I guess so," She stutters. I don't blame her. Alyssa is absolutely gorgeous it's hard for anybody to not get tongue-tied around her.

"Thanks," I graciously tell her after Willow has reluctantly walked away.

"Oh no problem. She's umm… unusual," She responds.

"Yeah you could say that again. She kept asking me all sorts of random questions about this web-show I did in high school. I just want to get to know everybody in the limited time I have before the rose ceremony." I realize I'm rambling so I force myself to stop talking.

"All right, well I'm Alyssa, I'm 26 years old, I'm a model and I live in Texas." She extends her hand solemnly, but I detect a hint of sarcasm in her voice and eyes. I decide that she has a good sense of humor, so I joke around with her.

"See? Why can't everybody be that straight forward?" I joke.

"Well, I can give you the scoop on everyone I've talked to already. Then maybe you can decide who you want to approach next or avoid. Although I wouldn't complain if you just talked to me all night." She adds with a smile. Now normally, I would never engage in gossip, but let's face it, there's no way I'm going to be able to get to know each of these woman in the remaining two hours. So hesitantly, I agree.

"Well, the four girls who were in the limo with me, Sasha, Olivia, Paris, and Gabrielle, all seem very genuine and nice. Sasha is intensely competitive, but she said that she's a pro volleyball player, so that probably has something to do with it.

"Olivia talks a lot. She talked nearly the whole limo ride. But, she was funny and she had our whole limo laughing.

"Paris was pretty quiet so I didn't get the best read on her. But when Gabrielle got us all singing karaoke, she didn't hesitate to join in, so she's not a loner.

"Gabrielle is apparently, like a song writer or something. She has an amazing voice. She was so incredibly sweet too. Like a puppy dog or something." Alyssa points out each of the woman as she describes them so I can put a face to the name, in case I don't remember them.

"And since I've got here I've talked to a few people. That's Piper," She points to a tall girl in a tight gold dress, "She seems like a slut. Now normally, I don't make bad assumptions about people, but she was telling me about all the guys she's been with. Even she's lost count. She also told me in detail about her encounter a couple years ago with syphilis. She's cured now but…" Alyssa makes a disgusted face, and I don't blame her. I make a mental note to talk to Piper, so I can make my own assumption about her.

"That over there is Sarah," Alyssa continues, this time pointing to a slim girl with a flowy dress and an orchid in her black hair. "She's from Hawaii. She's a hula dancer. She is one of the nicest people I've ever met. A little soft-spoken, but incredibly sweet. She's talking to Kelsey and Lily. I haven't gotten to talk to either of them yet.

"Oh, and that over there with Gabrielle is Miranda. She's hilarious. Which is surprising because she's a lawyer. I thought lawyers were supposed to be boring. " Alyssa finishes. She takes a sip of her drink. I'm internally deliberating whether to trust all of Alyssa's judgments. I've spent about fifteen minutes talking, more like gossiping, with her. I might as well trust her because now there is absolutely no way I will have time to talk to all the women here.

"Ok, well thanks for all that information. I think I'll go meet everyone else now though. Although I really did enjoy talking to you," I genuinely mean this last part. Even though she's gossipy, she really did help me out.

"Ok see you later Freddie!" She walks over towards Gabrielle and Miranda.

The rest of the night I talk to as many girls as I can. I come to find that Alyssa was right in most of her assumptions. Not only does Piper come across slutty, she's also full of herself. Gabrielle was indeed musically gifted. She even wrote a song about me that she sang while we were sitting together outside. I learn that Paris is a journalist from New York, and she wasn't quiet after you broke her out of her shell. Kelsey just graduated college with a Master's degree and seems really ambitious and daring. Olivia had me nearly rolling on the floor with laughter. Lily works in the fashion design industry, and someday hopes to be a costume designer on Broadway.

After I finish up a conversation with Lauren, a single mom from Indiana, I decide I need a drink. All this talking is making me thirsty. I walk over to the mini bar where another woman is standing.

"Hey, are you having a good time?" I ask her. She looks at me with severely dilated eyes, and says something unintelligible. Apparently she's having a _very _good time. I rack my memory trying to remember her name, I'm fairly certain it's Eliza. I try and ask her a few more questions, but she just walks away, and collapses on the couch.

Shaking my head I turn back to the drink selection. There's nothing here but alcohol. Not wanting to become drunk like Eliza, I head towards the kitchen to get a glass of water.

I'm taking the last sip of the refreshing liquid when I hear footsteps walk in the room.

"Oh hey," I call refilling my glass, "I'm just getting some water. I'm not much of an alcohol fan. Want some?" Not hearing a response, I look over my shoulder to see who it is. It's Sam.

"Oh, um…" I turn around so I'm facing her. She hesitantly walks towards the counter, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She stops when she's about five feet away from me. Neither of us knows what to say, so it's awkwardly silent.

"Well, can I have some water?" She eventually asks. There's an edge of annoyance in her voice. Same old Sam.

"Uh sure," I get another glass out of the cabinet and fill it with water from the faucet. I hand it to her and her fingers briefly touch mine when she takes it from me. She sips it quietly for a few minutes.

"So…how have you been?" I ask, desperate for the silence to be over.

She gives me a classic Sam look, the kind she had always given me when she couldn't believe I was dumb enough to say whatever it was I had said.

"Freddie what are you doing here?" I can tell by her tone she's seriously annoyed now. All my anger towards her from earlier comes rushing back.

"Me? Me? What are _you _doing here?"

"What does it matter what I'm doing here? Besides I asked you first Benson!" Her blue eyes are ice and the look on her face is pure fury.

"It matters because I would never imagine you, _you_ of all people, to come to a place like this," I'm trying to keep my voice down, so none of the others get suspicious. I have to admit though; it surprises me how easily we have fallen back into our old routine of vicious arguing. There's venom in her voice as she responds, "What the _hell_ makes you think you know me better than I know myself? Huh? I wouldn't have freaking come here, Benson, if I didn't want to!"

"Well neither would I! And I'm just saying that the Sam I knew would never have voluntarily come to a place where she would have to compete for a guys attention and spend weeks with a bunch of giggly, drunk girls!"

"Oh, and I suppose you were just _dying _to have tons of daffodils' throwing themselves longingly at your feet! You know what? Your sick," She throws the rest of her water at me, drenching my face. I stare at her in shock, water dripping off my nose and eyelashes. She gives me a final glare before throwing her glass on the ground and leaving the room. I'm left staring at the puddle on the floor, and the pile of shattered glass.

**OMG IDate Sam & Freddie is on TONIGHT! Also, I saw a preview for this whole season, and Gibby was talking to Carly and saying how since Sam and Freddie are going to be spending more time together, he guesses they will end up being together more! This made me happy because I'm a Cibby fan! Although I do think Carly would look cute with Brad...Oh well I'm sure Dan Schneider will make it perfect! **

**I'm way more excited for this season than a high schooler should be...Oh well :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, I'm not the happiest with this chapter. It's sort of a filler, but I promise the next one will be better. So in the meantime, read&review! Please leave me a review with suggestions on where the dates should be, where they should travel to later, and the girls personalities. Reviewing makes me update faster I promise! Even if it's just a simple "Heyyyy great job " it will make my day. SO HERES CHAPTA FOUR!**

**Disclaimer: Me? Own Icarly and the Bachelor? Psssh no waaay.**

Forty minutes later I find myself standing in front of a table holding pictures of each of the twenty-five women. I'm supposed to dramatically lay five of the pictures down, and then send home the girls whose pictures I've laid down.

I pick up Willow's photo and look at it for a moment, remembering our conversation from earlier. Shaking my head, I lay her picture face down. I do the same with Piper's, Eliza's, and Lucy's. Four out of five down.

I'm not sure who else to send home. I hold Sam's photo in my hands and stare at it. This must be one of the headshots she sent in when applying for the show. Her hair is down and wild around her face, the way I used to love it. I remember the time in the beginning of our relationship, when I brushed her hair before an ICarly episode. The memory brings a smile to my face, but is quickly washed away when I replay our fight from earlier in my head. I set her picture down carefully, and pick up another; this one belonging to Marsha.

Marsha had approached me after I had exited the kitchen and subtly hinted that I should give her the first impression rose (which I had already given to Taylor). She seemed shady to me, like she was only pretending to be nice. I've never been the best judge of character though, (need I bring up Valerie again?) so I could be mistaken. Setting her picture down, I pick up one more, belonging to Alison.

Alison's picture lie in my hands and stared up at me. I'm not exactly sure why I had picked up her photo in the first place; our conversation had been short, but sweet. She had had a cute personality, but was a bit shy. I set her photo back down and stare around at all the smiling pictures. With a big sigh, I turn one face down, and walk out of the room.

"Welcome to the rose ceremony ladies," Chris says, "Tonight, five of you will be going home. So Freddie, let's get started." And just like that, I'm left alone with twenty-five women, and only twenty roses. With shaking hands I pick up the first one. I look around at all the women and take a deep dramatic breath, just as I was instructed to.

"Alyssa," Alyssa walks forward and stops less than a foot in front of me, "Alyssa will you accept this rose?"

"Of Course," She takes it and walks back to her place smiling.

"Olivia," Olivia approaches me and accepts my rose.

"Jenna," Jenna gives me a hug when I hand her the rose.

"Lily," I'm not really handing out roses in any specific order; pretty much just when I remember somebodies name.

"Shanna," Shanna walks forward and gives me a surprised smile. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her tonight, so I suppose she assumed she was going home.

"Sarah," Sarah accepts her rose gladly and kisses me on the cheek.

"Gabrielle," Gabrielle walks forward and pauses in front of me, "Gabrielle will you accept this rose?"

"Gladly," She smiles.

After I give roses to Kelsey and Miranda, Chris appears again.

"Ladies, half of the roses have been given out. There are ten more roses." He nods solemnly at me and walks away. I really don't understand why all the dramatics are needed. I look around at the remaining fifteen rose-less women.

"Sasha," Sasha approaches me happily, "Sasha will you accept this rose?"

"I'd be happy to," She gushed.

"Pairs," I say next. Paris accepts the rose and gives my hand a gentle squeeze.

"Mindy," Mindy, the one who'd told me the cheesy joke about some talking muffins, accepts my rose with a smug smile.

"Logan," Logan also seems surprised to hear her name called, since our conversation had been cut short by Willow.

"Lauren," Lauren accepts my rose and give me a hug.

I give the next three roses to Kate, Giselle, and Bella, all of whom I'd had brief conversations with after I'd left the kitchen. I have two roses left, and Piper, Lucy, Alison, Willow, Marsha, Eliza, and Sam are standing in their places with empty hands.

"Alison," I say with a deep breath. Alison smiles, relieved, and approaches me, "Alison, will you accept this rose?"

"I'd love to," She replies, giving me a hug. Chris walks over again and looks at all the women standing in a semi-circle around me and my rose podium thing.

"Ladies, this is the final rose this evening. Freddie, when you're ready," He gives me another serious nod, as if reminding me to be dramatic, and walks away. I pick up the rose and stare at it for a few minutes. Was I making the right decision? Was I going to regret this? There's only one way to find out.

"S-Sam," I stutter her name, fearing that she will hate me for this. I can see the surprise on her face, but she walks forward none-the-less. When she stops a mere eight inches in front of me, I can smell her perfume. It's the same kind she always wore in high school. It's fruity and young scent takes me back to the last time I was close enough to her to smell it.

_She held my hand and led me down the hallway; we clambered out the window onto our special place, the fire escape. We had a perfect view of the Seattle skyline, and with the sun setting right behind it, the sight couldn't have been more beautiful. _

"_Freddie, we need to talk," She had said. I, thinking she wanted to talk about the sadness of the last ICarly, had shh'ed her, not wanting to ruin this perfect moment. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her slim waist, burying my face in her wild curls._

"_Freddie," She had begun again, but I had cut her off by spinning her around and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and didn't pull away for two blissful minutes._

I'm snapped out of my flashback when somebody clears their throat.

"Oh, er, Sam will you accept this rose?" And suddenly, I'm overcome with fear that she _ won't_ accept it, and I'll look stupid in front of potential girlfriends. She studies me for a few moments, perhaps trying to decide herself if she was going to accept the rose or not.

"Sure…" She says cautiously. I hand it to her, careful that our hands don't touch, and she returns to her place.

Chris returns, yet again, and says, "Ladies, I'm sorry if you didn't receive a rose. Please take a moment, and say your goodbyes."

A few of the women give Marsha, and Lucy hugs goodbye. Eliza's already stumbled her way over to the limo. Piper has seemed to storm out all ready, and most people are avoiding Willow. I understand why, as she is sobbing uncontrollably. I contemplate going over to comfort her. I really don't want to, but since I'm the reason she's crying….curse my nubish niceness.

"Hey Willow, it was really nice to meet you," I say, carefully choosing my words.

"Oh, Freddie," She sobs, "How could you do this to me?" She tucks a wayward piece of hair behind her ear. Her face is red and blotchy and her makeup is running down her face.

"Well, you know I just didn't really feel an, er, connection between us," I explain. She suddenly pulls a tissue out of the top of her dress and loudly blows her nose. I awkwardly back away and make my way over to say goodbye to the others. After the limo containing Willow, Marsha, Piper, Eliza, and Lucy leaves, the rest of us get glasses of champagne and clink them together in the air, in cheers of the weeks to come.

Later that night I'm sitting in my room staring out my window out into the night. In my hand are three date cards I'm supposed to be filling out. I already chose all the date locations; I'd had to do that weeks ago. I need to select one person to go on a one on one date, and two groups of seven girls to go on the group dates. I'm trying to decide who to take on the one-on-one date. Do I dare try and take Sam? That probably wouldn't end well. I neatly write Sam's name in one of the group categories. I look back out the window and into the stars, my eyes drooping with fatigue. Shaking my head to wake myself up, I finish filling out my date cards and crawl into the welcoming warmth of my bed. I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.

**Read&&Review Please **


	5. Chapter 5

**HEY YO! I'm so tired right now it's not even funny. But, I'm in a good mood. Because Glee started last night and Modern Family starts tonight :) Except I have an algebra 2 test tomorrow...I have a 100 in that class. no idea how it happened... Here's chapter 5! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: yup, still don't own**

The hot Los Angeles sun is already beating down on the back of my neck. I haven't felt heat like this since that crazy day spent in Carly's apartment with over half our building during the heat wave. I shouldn't be surprised about how hot is. It's the middle of July in L.A. after all. I glance at my watch, which has a temperature setting, and see that it's 96 degrees out here. How people can stand to live in this kind of weather is beyond me. I'll stick to Seattle, rainy days and all, thank you very much.

It's almost 7:00. The woman joining me on the first group date should be arriving any minute. I'm waiting at the La-Shangri, a huge 5-star resort just outside of LA. Tonight we will have private usage of its four miles of go-cart tracks, a catered picnic dinner on the golf course, and access to the giant, spa-like pool. Just as I'm checking my watch again, I hear a sound that can only be limo wheels on pavement. I look up, grinning, as it stops in front of the resort and seven of the beautiful girls I met last night begin to climb out. First to emerge is Sarah. She jogs over to me and I give her a hug. She's soon followed by Gabrielle, Kate, Bella, Paris, Kelsey, Alison, and Taylor; each of whom I give big hugs. I even give Sam a hug when she finally makes her way over. I can feel her suspicious eyes watching me, so I pull away quickly. I'd realized when I woke up this morning how important it was for us to put on a façade when the cameras were around. If the crew or producers had any suspicion that we had a history together that could lead to both of us being kicked out.

"Ok, you ladies ready for a great night?" I ask enthusiastically. I lead the way around to the back of the resort to the go-cart tracks. I hear the woman talk amongst themselves and when I stop in front of the line of go-carts I hear a few "Oh, greats" and laughter. Some of them, like Kate, Taylor and even Sam, are smiling excitedly. Others are looking unsure of themselves. Alison looks flat-out terrified. The instructor begins giving a brief speech about how to run the go-carts and the safety rules. When he mentions that they are able to go up to 75 mph, Alison actually looks like she's about to faint. While the others begin to put their helmets and safety jackets on, I worriedly walk over to her. She's biting her lip and staring at the ground. I gently place my hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at me.

"Hey, are you alright?" Her eyes have a deer in headlights look about them.

"Um, it's just, I'm not the best driver… " She mumbles, looking down again.

"Hey, c'mon, you'll do fine. Trust me, go-carts are much easier than cars,"

"Well, I-I'm actually sorta s-scared of driving, I-I lost my m-mom in a car accident a couple years ago, and n-never really got over it," Alison's eyes meet mine and I can see them quickly tearing up. She really is terrified. I'm touched that she trusted me enough to open up though. I pull her into a hug.

"Listen, Alison, if you don't want to drive one, that's absolutely fine. You can just stand over here and watch. Or if you want, you can ride with me. They have two-person ones." Alison pulls away, and glances over towards the go-carts, which the others are already climbing into. She bites her lip, and nods slowly. I lead her over to the instructor and ask if we can use a two-seater. He nods and quickly explains some additional rules that don't apply to the singles. Alison and I listen closely and then put our helmets and jackets on. We climb into our go-cart, and then the instructor opens the gate. All nine carts pull onto the track and speed off. I drive slower than I normally would because Alison is squeezing my hand in both of hers so hard it's going numb. After a while, most of the other girls are beginning to lap us, since I'm driving so slowly. I try and watch each of them as they speed by, to see how they're doing. Sam seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself, because she's laughing uncontrollably as she laps us for a third time. She's going so fast that the curls that aren't in the helmet are just a blur in the wind behind her. Kate and Taylor seem to be racing each other, since they keep passing each other up and shooting the other smug smiles and sarcastic waves. Gabrielle, who started out even slower than we did, must have gained confidence for she is now speeding past both Paris and Bella; who are still looking unsure of themselves. Kelsey, however, is lapping us yet again and is laughing in a surprised way; as if she didn't know the thrill of speeding around a track, and feeling the wind hit your face.

Alison loosens her grip on my hand, and I peek over to see her smiling.

"Are you having fun?" I nearly shout over the wind. She nods vigorously, and says something I don't quite catch.

"What's that?" I yell.

"I said speed up!" She yells back. I gently pull my hand away from hers and place it firmly on the wheel before pushing the pedal down harder. We shoot forward with a burst of speed, and Alison screams, but it's quickly transformed into laughter. I look over at her again and grin. She's gripping her seat for dear life, but her smile is so wide it almost literally reaches her ears. Her strawberry blonde hair is flying behind her, and through her helmet I can see her eyes are bright with excited fear that can only be brought on by a thrill like this. I concentrate on the road again, and from the corner of my eyes see a cart about to pass us. It's Sam. She's about to lap us for a fourth time. 'Not happening' I think. I shoot a glance towards Alison to make sure she's still all right, before flooring it. Our go-cart jerks forward so fast; I'm thrown back against my seat. Alison's no longer laughing. We must be going at least 90 mph. I'm so surprised that we nearly spin out of control, before I come to my senses and ease up on the gas pedal. I steer us over to the side as we slow down, and finally I step on the brake, stopping us.

"Alison I'm so sorry I had no idea that it would go that fast. The two-seaters must go faster than the singles. Are you ok?" She's still staring straight ahead as if paralyzed with fear. Slowly, she shakes her head, as if to clear it, and looks back at me.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," She says so softly, I almost don't catch it. She sounds out of breath. She probably is.

"I'm so, so sorry. Really. If you want to get out and just watch the rest of the time, we can." I say sincerely.

"No, no that's ok, I'm fine. Just, can we not go that fast again?" She looks at me with a pleading face. Does she really think I'd dare floor this thing again?

"No, of course we won't go that fast anymore. Just nice and slow." She nods, as I pull back onto the track. For the next forty-five minutes we drive around the various tracks, eventually speeding up to about 60 mph. We speed around, racing Taylor, or Kate, or Sam. When it's over, we pull back into the area where all the go-carts are kept. As we unbuckle I look at Alison.

"Hey, you did great out there. You were really brave." She blushes as she runs her hands through her hair, brushing out the tangles caused by the helmet.

"Thanks Freddie, I couldn't of done it without you." I smile at her, and return my helmet to the instructor. The rest of the women gather around me.

"Wow, that was some great driving out there! You all really impressed me!" I genuinely mean this, "So, I don't know about you, but I could go for some eating. What do you think?" They all agree and I hear Sam say, "Mama can always go for some eating," which makes Sarah look at her strangely, but me smile.

Once we're all situated at a long table that's been set up next to the crystalline lake on Hole 14 of the La-Shangri Resort Golf Course, elegantly dressed waiters serve us huge helpings of Spaghetti and Meatballs. Everyone digs in.

"More…more…. more…." I hear someone saying. I look up to see Sam sitting in her chair in between Kelsey and Gabrielle, with her arms crossed while one the waiters grates Parmesan cheese over her plate. When a layer of cheese that has to be at least three inches thick covers Sam's entrée, she finally tells the waiter that's enough with a smile. I 'accidently' drop my fork and swoop down to get it so I can silently laugh at Sam. Obviously her cheese habits haven't changed much since high school. I sit back up and compose myself. I turn to Gabrielle, who's sitting on my right, and ask her to pass the breadsticks.

"These have to be the best breadsticks I've ever had," she says as she hands them to me. I pick one up and take a bite.

"Oh my god!" I say with my mouth still full. I'm immediately embarrassed, but Gabrielle just laughs, and says, "I know right!" The breadsticks really are amazing, but I'm still embarrassed about forgetting to swallow before I talked. I apologize to Gabrielle, but again she just laughs.

"Oh please Freddie, these breadsticks just do something to you and you lose control of your manners. See?" She grabs the last breadstick out of the basket just as Sam was reaching for it. Bad idea.

"Um, hello? I was going to take that," Sam exclaims.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I really want it." I can tell Gabrielle is joking because she's already beginning to reach across the table to hand Sam the breadstick. Sam, unfortunately, doesn't notice this, nor does she joke around when it comes to her food. She jumps to her feet and nearly leaps across the table to snatch the breadstick out of Gabrielle's hand. She uses it to hit Gabrielle on the side of her face before sitting down again and eating the breadstick calmly. Everyone's staring at her with shocked expressions. Gabrielle just looks dumbfounded. Slowly she looks down to see the spaghetti that spilled onto her shirt when Sam had lunged at her. I hear her groan.

"C'mon," I say to her, "Let's go see if we can get that cleaned up." She stands up and follows me up to the resort. We walk in and I ask the receptionist at the front desk, where the bathroom is. She points us around a corner. Gabrielle goes in and returns seconds later with a wet paper towl. She's desperately wiping at the red stain on the abdomen of her yellow tank top.

"It works better if you dab it instead of trying to wipe it clean," I tell her. She does this, and a majority of the sauce comes off. She looks at me oddly.

"How'd you know that?"

"Don't ask," I roll my eyes remembering my moms stupid poem, _'When there's a spill, Don't stand still, Grab a towel of some type, And dab not wipe'_.

Gabrielle shrugs, and goes back to dabbing her shirt.

"Well, however you know, it works. This will probably come out in the wash now. Thanks Freddie!"

"No problem,"

We head back out towards the rest of the group, who are now enjoying dessert.

"Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?" I ask. She looks up from her already clean cake plate, and shrugs her shoulders.

"I guess so," She follows me over to where the others won't be able to hear us. I keep my voice down just in case.

"What the heck were you thinking? Was a stupid breadstick really _that _important?"

"Uh, yeah!" She looks at me with a 'duh' expression, "Food is one of the basic needs of survival Benson! And those breadsticks are amazing!"

"Sam, she was about to hand it to you! Did you not notice that? No, because you were too busy planning your attack! I swear, do you even_ think_ sometimes?"

"Yes, I think. I think all the time. In fact, I was thinking last night, why am I still here? If you were as smart as you seem to think you are, you would have sent me home!" I hate how she always knows just how to turn the conversation back around to me.

"Because, Sam, I haven't seen you in ten years! I was hoping we could at least reconcile a little bit. I miss you Sam. You were my best friend! I'm not saying we should pick up where we left off. We obviously can't do that. But I thought you would at least want to catch up a bit!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you thought wrong. I don't want to be friends again. I don't want to be anything with you. So send me home this week, ok?"

"Why Sam?"

"Look, you just have to trust me. It's best for both of us to not even talk to each other. Just send me home, ok?" With that she turns around and walks back towards the table. Once again leaving me staring angrily after her.

**Reviews are like sweet tea on a hot summer day :) please submit them!**


	6. Authors Note

**Hello everybody! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated lately. I've had some personal stuff going on. But anyways, I don't have any ideas really for this fic, so I think it's going to becoming to a standstill. I'm going to just walk away from it for a while, and maybe in a few months I'll pick it up again. But as of now, this story is done. I have an idea for a new story that I will hopefully start today, or soon this week. That story should be a lot easier to come up with ideas for, and will not have as many OC's. In the meantime, be sure to check out my one-shot called "All I'll Ever Need" **

**Thanks! **


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